EskoArtwork rewards packaging designers’ creativity with software giveaway

Packaging designers turned their imaginative ideas into 3D reality to win a copy of Studio Visualizer when they participated in a competition organised by EskoArtwork and the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF). Studio Visualizer is the EskoArtwork tool that provides realistic, 3D moving views of packaging designs.

The competition was staged at easyFair’s Packaging Innovations at London’s Business Design Centre on October 6 - 8. Creatives were given a brief training session to familiarize themselves with Studio Visualizer before creating eye-catching pieces during strictly timed sessions.

Paul Bates, EskoArtwork’s regional business manager UK & Eire, comments: ‘The aim of the competition was to show packaging creatives how Studio Visualizer can free their imagination and enable them to produce highly polished results – and it certainly worked. The calibre of the work was inspiring, particularly given entrants’ limited training.’

The title of Best Agency went to Duncan Robinson, owner of Pill Box Design, Leicester, for his Tulip Perfume multi-piece folding carton container. A specialist in healthcare packaging, Robinson says: ‘I went straight home and downloaded a trial version of the software to get to grips with it. Our customers like using different finishes like embossing and varnishes. We also play with graphics quite a bit and that is a good thing about Visualizer.’

He anticipates that Studio Visualizer will become a useful tool for his 18-month-old operation: ‘Our markets are developing that way. We can see there will be a greater need for this tool in the coming months, as the business focus develops towards more common goals.’ For Robinson,Studio Visualizer is another string to EskoArtwork’s bow: ‘It complements the rest of the EskoArtwork offering – the company has a strong suite of tools.

Competition judge, Dick Searle, chief executive of the Packaging Federation, commended Robinson’s entry for using ‘different materials and print finishes to maximum impact’.

Best Non-Professional was won by Northumbria University student Edward Taylor. His toothpaste box concept showed ‘great understanding of the impact of different finishing, both varnishes and emboss’.

Bates was delighted with the response to the competition, and said the event also gave the EskoArtwork team a chance to demonstrate the full capabilities of the software: ‘With Visualizer, designers can create reliable, life-like 3D mock-ups. The competition allowed us to illustrate how maximum time and cost savings can be achieved in what can be a very expensive process in a product’s lifecycle.’